The Passing Year Part 2
by Akamery
Summary: Just a continuation 3 months after the end of The Passing Year. Enjoy! Chapter 4-7 up
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Raphael furrowed his brows as Rachel zoomed around the room, "You were happy as a clam on the couch yesterday and now you're leaving?" he walked over and placed a hand on hers as she set a shirt in her suitcase, "Rae, what's wrong? Will you come back? I thought we had everything worked out…"

Rachel bit her lip as his hand touched hers. Her first instinct was to get her hand away from him, but she decided to just calm herself down. Yesterday she had no idea that she had been pregnant until she checked since her red moon didn't touch her for a long time and she had felt sick. Not only that, she persuaded Bria to also check and now that she knew, she wanted away. She wanted to get rid of the child, forget it happened, and get stronger birth control pills. "I'm fine; I'm going to be at my shop." She told him with a smile. "We're still together, I'm not leaving you. I merely want a visit with my friends. I'll be back before you know it. I promise."

"Take your shell cell, please?" Raph held her hand to his beak and kissed her fingers, "I love you, please be careful." He sensed there was something else besides the fact she wanted to see her friends, "I trust you." He wanted her to stay, but if she needed to go then he wouldn't force her.

"I know." Rachel said softly as he let her hand go. "I'll call you so often you'll probably turn off your phone." She joked lightly as she shut the suitcase closed and zipped it. She went to the night stand and took her shell cell and the charger cord. "I love you Raph." _'And that's why I gotta leave.'_ She thought to herself as she gave him a smile. "Don't worry about me."

"I'll worry about you anyway, and I'll call you just as much," Raphael laughed and hugged her, "I can carry your bag to the Turtle Taxi for you."

"Thanks." Rachel said as she pulled away from the hug.

Raphael felt she didn't want him to touch her, and was hurt, but he hid it and grabbed the suitcase. They walked out and downstairs and they waited in the living room for Bria where Donatello was pacing back and forth, "Yo, Don, what's up?"

Donny was worried. So far it had been a few months or so since Lily had left. He was getting anxious about how she was doing and whether or not she was okay. He looked up and his heart sank. Raph was carrying Rae's bag. Bria was just about done packing too. Where they trying to be subtle in their leaving or where they really going to come back? He bit his lip. "I'm just worried about Lily; she hasn't been home in a long time."

"She should be home very soon." Rachel soothed, knowing all to well that Lily must have already had her kittens and was just as ready to go home. "Don't worry yourself sick Don. She's fine."

"Here I am!" Lily shouted happily from the front door. She had only meant to spend a month, but Ian and the others had needed her help so she ended up staying for two more months. Sadly her shell cell had died halfway through the second month so she was only able to pass letters to Donatello. It had also been a very long three months considering she had to give up her kittens.

Lily had waited desperately hoping Fran would show and tell her to keep them, but as days and weeks went by he did not show, and so she had to give them to the women who promised to take care of them. It hurt her so much, she wanted to keep them, but she was afraid for them. The cat shook her head of the depressing thoughts and shut the door, hurrying over to Donny.

"Lily!" Donny cried out as he went over to her and hugged her tightly. After breathing in her scent for a while he let her go. "I was worried about you."

"I'm so sorry I took so long. Dire situations occurred and they kept me away," Lily wrapped her arms around Don's neck and sighed in relief, "I missed you so much.

"I missed you too." Donny said with a smile as he gently pulled away from her. "I'm so glad you came home safe."

"I'm glad I came back safe as well," Lily grinned but she reached up and traced the darkness under his eyes that had reached under his bandana, "You barely slept at all."

"How could I when I felt like you were in pain and scared?" Donny asked softly.

Lily bit her lip but then kissed him, "I love you, Donny. Come on, let us both rest."

Brianna hummed a random tune as she packed up her suitcase. She felt this was her only choice, there was too much going on that would harm the child either physically or mentally. One enemy or another would take the babe, or some disaster would happen that would kill them. She couldn't let anything like that or worse happen.

"You and Rae are leaving." Leo said softly in the doorway, "What for?" He walked close and looked at the suitcase. "Is it anything I can do to help with?"

"Leo!" Bria gasped and placed a hand over her chest, "You startled me!' she thought over what he asked and couldn't bring herself to speak the lie she had thought about telling him to explain her absence. Instead she sighed and sat on the bed, placing her hand over her abdomen, "The only thing you can help me with is settling my soul with what you have to say."

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Leo frowned as he made his place on the bed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He paused, thinking. "Are you thinking of giving the child away for adoption?"

"Yes…Rae knows of some supernatural people," Bria murmured, "Leo, I want to keep the baby, I don't want to give them up, but…what else can I do?"

"What you can do, is ask if there's a family that wouldn't mind watching the child at least until you're able to come for it." Leo replied softly, "Is Rae going to give your child to the family or is someone else?"

"I'll do it myself," Bria smiled at Leo and hugged him, "When the time comes, we'll _both_ get the child," she told him, "I'm not a monster for giving him/her away, am I? Being scared for them…is that enough reason?"

"You're not a monster. You're doing the right thing, Bria." Leo said softly with a smile. "It's admirable, and I know that the child will be safe. I wish I could come with you, to be there, but I don't know where you're going or where Rae's planning to take you. I'll always be a phone call away."

"What do you want to name them?" Bria smiled as she got back up and finished her packing, "I need a boy and a girl name since I won't know what the baby will be until he/she arrives."

"Penny and David," Leo said as after a while of silence, "Unless you know a better boys' name." He smiled at her kindly.

"I love David," Brianna giggled and zipped the suitcase, "Thank you so much, Lionheart. I love you." She kissed him tenderly, "I think you should tell Raph. I don't know Rae's reasons, but he should know."

Leo blinked, "Rachel's pregnant too?" He paused. "Of course I'll tell him, I'll let him know."

Raphael watched as Brianna came out with Leonardo and smiled faintly at how affectionate they seemed. However, the red-clad turtle did not miss when they hugged how Leo's hand drifted close to her abdomen, but then quickly let her go. Frowning he followed his elder brother and the girls out to the Turtle Taxi and they put the bags in the trunk as the girls got in front, "Rae, be careful," he said again, "Call me if you need anything, and I'll give it to Andy to give to you if you're that set against me not being with you."

"I'll be fine." Rachel soothed at him. "I'll call you even if I don't need anything. I want you with me...just not for this. See you soon." She kissed his cheek before she got in and shut the door. The engine started, the garage door opened, and the turtle taxi drove off into the night.

Leo walked next to him. "We need to talk, Raph." He said solemnly. It was going to be difficult to explain. He bit his lip. "Come on, I'll make something for us to drink."

Raph frowned as he watched the road until the garage door closed all the way again. He turned and followed his brother to the kitchen, "It seems I have a lot more work to do with her, bro. She won't tell me shit."

"If she told you the same thing Bria told me, your actions may cause a deep rift." Leo said softly. He understood Rae's fear. After all, Donny had told them that they can't reproduce. Now, it turned out that they can. Raph would be in shock, maybe even angry at being deceived, even though it wasn't Donny's fault. "It's a scary road she's going down, and even though it'd be easier to have someone with her, she didn't want you to...because she wants to keep herself in a light that you see her in."

"You're speaking riddles. I had enough riddles for a lifetime with the test she gave me. Give it to me straight, Leo," Raphael scowled.

"Rae and Bria are expecting a child." Leo said bluntly, "Our children."

Raph took a step back like he had been punched in the chest. That's what it felt like anyway. His heart suddenly hurt and he furrowed his brows as he gripped the chair, mindlessly pulling it out enough to sit in it before he fell from the shock. She left...because she was pregnant? She distanced herself because…

"Oh…" he wheezed, "That's…that's fantastic. Just what I needed, more problems with her…she doesn't want the child does she? She wants to give it up and forget about it…like it never happened. She doesn't want to know she spawned a child from a damned turtle. I get it, that's just swell." Raphael stood back up, "That's why she didn't want me touching her. Makes sense now…"

"No!" Leo shook his head quickly. "I doubt that. I think she wants to give it to a better home because she doubts her capabilities of taking care of a child. I think she also believes you're not ready to be a father. To be honest, I think she's doing the right thing. The Foot would just enjoy taking our children and using them for experiments."

Raph looked at Leo squarely, "That may be true, but you didn't feel rejected earlier. She didn't want me near her. I held her hand, she was relieved when I let go. I hugged her; she wanted nothing more than to get away."

Leo frowned. "I don't know what to say to that." He admitted. "What I will say is this, I think your wrong about her not wanting to be around you, if anything, I think she knows that what she's about to do will hurt and even betray you. I think she feels as if she's unworthy to be held by you. But that's my opinion."

"Unworthy?" Raphael chewed his lip, "That...does seem like her. Though being a turtle I feel it should be the other way around, that I'm unworthy of her." He shook his head, "I suppose you're right. My hot head would've caused a rift...but with what I've been through with her how else was I supposed to think? You and Bria are, like, the perfect couple, no problems at all so far, you don't think twice about what she does or says, you know she loves you. Rae...she's still so hesitant, I get confused. You know me and when I'm confused, I don't do well."

"Bria and I have problems too like any couple." Leo disagreed. "We just know how to talk it over." He paused. "Rae's been through a lot and so have you. It takes a toll on both of you."

"Yes it does," Raph sighed and then patted Leo's shoulder, "Thanks, bro. So, what do you think the little squirt will be for you? I always pictured you having a son."

"It may be," Leo said with a smile. "I hope it is. But I'll be content with a girl too. What about you?"

Raph smiled faintly, "I'll have to rely on Bria telling me what the kit is, but I don't really care. Though if it's a girl, I'd hope she looks just like her mother," he grinned, "What would you name your boy?"

"No, we haven't sadly," Raph shrugged, "If it's a girl, I've always liked Natalie or Grace," he smiled happily, "I hope the pregnancy goes okay. Let's tell Donny when he wakes up; I'm sure he will want to run tests and other scientific stuff."

"I think so too." Leo replied with a slight smile. "Let's go inside."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Alrighty," Bria grinned and followed her sister to her room. Curiously she looked around, "You think I could help you out here? Like with the job and stuff since I got some abilities myself."

Rae shrugged, "That will depend on the job, but I don't mind as long as you try not to get on anyone's bad side. Come on, let's go upstairs." She lead the way up the creaky staircase that cracked and groaned under their feet. The hallway they landed on was small. There was two doors on each side. Rae went to the last door on the right, peeked in and gestured Bria to come closer. She turned on the light. The orange dimness showed polished wood, cleaned and laid out sheets that were smoothed and tucked in. "Apparently Jason's been here lately, the room's cleaner." Rae noted. "Anyway, this will be your room. If the dim lightbulb bothers you, I can get a new one."

"No, it's fine," Bria grinned and went over to the bed plopping down her bag, "Hey, what would you say if i told you I told Leo I was pregnant?"

"I would be surprised. How did he take the news?" Rae asked with a raised eyebrow. She didn't dare tell Raph about her condition.

"He was happy, but understood that it would be safer for the children if we put them up for adoption," Brianna explained to her with a grin, "He even gave me a name if it's a boy, and I told him about Penny last week."

"Oh, nice name," Rae said with a soft smile. Bria always had a soft spot for her great-grandmother. "So what's the boy's name?"

"David," Bria giggled and went through her pack, finding a picture of when she and Leo went to the Museum of Natural History. He was behind her with one arm around one shoulder the other arm around her waist, and his head was on her other shoulder. His hazel eyes were bright and happy, his stance protective and possessive like he wouldn't allow anyone to take her away. Her own hands were on both of his, and her body was relaxed cuddled against him. Her eyes were loving and content, never wanting to leave where she was.

Rachel smiled softly. She never had a picture with her love, since she preferred to stay in the dark. Her smiled turned to a full-blown grin; at least her sister was happy. "Good name." She praised. "I like it a lot; now, I need to see if my room was ever used, for I may have to do some midnight cleaning if not. I wish you sweet dreams, Bria. Goodnight."

"Night, Rae," Bria grinned back, "Call me if you need my help. I'll just lay here and read until I fall asleep." She found her book in the bag, Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, and crawled under the covers after plopping the bag next to the nightstand.

Rachel wiped her brow as she stood up. Her back popped with since she had been bent over the floor trying to clean up the dust. The table was now decorated like it used to be with a black alter cloth, candles that had yet to be lit, and plenty of divination tools for her to use at her whim. Bria was almost done polishing the window, her dazed look was obviously from the overwhelming memories the building had. And Bria loved looking through all of the memories, for the past was a lot better to think about than the future. The door opened and Rachel turned to see who walked through the doors, almost fearful that Raph had managed to find them.

She breathed in relief. "Jason, what a surprise."

The man she was speaking of was a tall man with short hair. His skin was brown and his deep eyes were just as dark. He scanned the area, and his aura claimed authority and danger. "Not much of a surprise than to see you standing here, Lynx." He spoke with a slight accent.

"You've been staying here." Rachel said with her arms folded. "What is your base too tight for you now?" She mocked him lightly.

Jason rolled his eyes when his eyes caught Bria's form, "Whose the chick, your cleaning lady?"

"Don't call me a chick," Bria huffed, "I'm not a cleaning lady either, I'm helping."

"She has bite." Jason said with a slight smile as he looked at Rachel. "Anyway, I'm here because I have a request for ya." 

Rachel narrowed her eyes, "I won't be able to do much, Jason."

"I'm not asking you to break in anywhere." Jason said, holding his hands up. "I'm asking you to do me a slight favor, that's all. All I want is to know where I can find Kerica. My reason? To find out why the hell her people have been on the rampage."

"What's wrong with my Aka Ryuu? Naia should be in charge if Nerieta isn't doing her job." Bria scowled, "I'm Kerica."

"Nothing's really /wrong/ per se, but it seems like they've been more active lately." Jason said with a shake of his head. "Three of my men were taken down, and I was quite sure that it was in our territory. I don't go terrorizing unless I don't got a choice, but it seems like they don't care. If I can see if there's a way to keep the peace, I'd rather go that route. Otherwise, I'll go out on a war between them all and I swear I'll leave no one alive."

"His threat is true as water flows." Rachel said with a sigh, placing her fingers against her forehead. "Are you sure they're the Aka Ryuu?"

"They wear red." Jason snapped.

"Not all wear red!" Bria slapped down her rag and stormed over to him, her eyes dangerous green, "The item that distinguish my Aka Ryuu are the red dragons! They would also NEVER attack someone without reason! A lot of them keep the symbol hidden, anyway, like under a glove."

"Then someone must have gone rouge and brought enemies, or perhaps it's merely one person." Jason said with a shrug. "I only heard the report. I came to investigate and that's where Lynx and I suppose you come in."

"I shall go to Tsunaia first thing tomorrow and find out. No one does anything without her orders or Nerieta's, and I have a lot of through and through loyal people who would never betray me. I'll ask them too then have Lynx contact you with your answers." Bria folded her arms.

"Alrighty." Jason said with a nod. "Now then, I was hoping to know-"

"You know my answer." Rachel broke in. "You have your answers now, Jason. Leave if your done, stay if you're not going to ask any more questions. I'm sure I can put you to work."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Now I know I'm not wanted." He turned serious. "Be careful Lynx, that's not the answer that most would want to hear. Hector especially."

"Jason, ask any witnesses of the attack what the imposter Aka Ryuu looked like, it would be helpful," Brianna told him quickly before he left.

"Will do." Jason replied as he shut the door behind him.

Bria sighed, her eyes returning to their normal blue, "I haven't had to encounter any gangs for god knows how long."

Rachel leaned against the table and looked down at her feet. They were more than likely impostors that just wanted to scare gangs for kicks. It always popped up once in a while, only most of them got themselves killed for their ignorance. Jason didn't like unnecessary killings, but if he didn't have a choice, he'd kill and he'd do it without any mercy. "I want to see if I can tell the future about this." She spoke softly. "It'd be easier to guess what they're going to do. Also, it'd be a lot faster than having to run around the alleyways to get to the Aka Ryuu hideout and find out what's going on. Does Naia still practice Mirror or Water scrying?"

"Oh yeah, neither she nor Sakura go anywhere without a pocket mirror," Bria said, "Sakura also found a way that images can appear on anything that's clear, say a sword or dagger."

"Good. I can communicate with them then. I think that a mirror would be easier since they both have one." Rachel said and left the bottom floor. She came back with a small picture-frame looking mirror that was had brass carvings and a dusty top. She immediately wiped it down and set it carefully on the table top. She went around and went through the drawer to find the candle that would represent communication. Once she lit it, she started up a breathing pattern and concentrated on who she needed to connect too.

The mirror began to shimmer and disorientate itself. She didn't lose focus until the image of a young woman long pink hair and eyes the color of the sky came through the mirror. "Sakura," Rachel said with a smile that was nearly made of ice. Lynx was in control now, being the master of the alleyways and information gatherer. "I think you may want to hear the news I have for you."

"Oh, fiddle..." Sakura fiddled on her hip for the shiny silver dagger she had, "Hello there Lynx, dear. What's up?" she looked around and decided to get out of the alleyway before someone spotted here. She was doing patrol and had come across some Lightning Force people that decided to throw small bombs at her, "Would it explain why when I went around the LF and they wanted to attack? For goodness sake Jason knows me."

"There's been an imposter, or imposters, donning red and attacking random gangs and it's been getting everyone on edge. Jason has reason to suspect that it is the Aka Ryuu that's attacking. He was here moments ago to bring us the news." Lynx replied. "I'm worried that it's a bunch of kids running around, but I'd like to ask if there's anyone that's gone rouge."

"No one that I know of dear," Sakura shook her head, "I'm sorry. Though, there were some kids that came by lookin' to join but didn't pass the tests so got rejected."

"That's a start." Lynx replied. "Do you have any other information regarding to the kids? If not, then I'll tell Jason and we'll see if we can't catch them in the act."

"Just a small Calvary of four or five," Sakura shrugged, "Not much out of the ordinary I thought. Might want to talk to Jason though, it was a sort of holiday for us so everyone was wearing our signature red."

"I'll catch him when I'm able." Lynx promised. "Well then." She blew out the candle and the image began to mix and spin and disappear. Rachel took in a deep breath and came slowly back down from her higher plane of conscious. "Looks like we're going to have a field day trying to catch five or four kids." She told Bria. "I couldn't get much more. Maybe if you go down to the Aka Ryuu hideout they might have something for you to look at and you can catch the images from your Past Seeing."

"Well, if they travel together it shouldn't be that difficult," Brianna told her gently, "But I'll go. I thought of a job I could do for my stay here, with the customers. I'll work with gemstones and the chakra. I'm sure that won't get me on anyone's hit list." She stood, "I'll go to my hideout if you want me to right now."

"Please." Rachel said as she stood up. "I'm going to try to contact Jason with the information. Hopefully we can get this over with by day break."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rachel watched as her sister ran down the alleyways. It was very fortunate that the shop was close by to the hideout. However, Jason's hideout could be considered far and since she had enough time to walk, she had enough time to think over what she was doing.

Raphael would probably disagree with her meddling in gang related affairs even though she was always an Informer since 15. God she missed Ian and Lese and Nicky. They were the only family she had besides Matt and Andrew. Why did she leave them? Guilt weighed down on her heavily. Andrew had been a big brother, a protector. Matt…god Matt had been her lifeline, her everything. Now Raph was to be considered that.

But if that weighed on her like a stone, then carrying Raph's baby was twice as much. It weighed on her like three pounds of gold, maybe more. To carry a life, a child born from rough love and fleeting moments, was something she wouldn't wish on anyone. It wasn't that it was the creature in her that frightened her, but she couldn't place her finger on what scared her the most.

It was so obvious she wasn't ready for a child. Her life was seeking out danger, finding gangs and making either friends or enemies out of them. She wandered these streets so many times that the routes became routine. She no longer needed to guess and check herself. This was what she was destined to do.

But what if Raph found out-besides being an Informer-that she was technically Ian's assassin? The babe she had wouldn't touch her. Raph defiantly wouldn't allow it. Blood stained her hands just as much as lies coated her tongue. It was more than just habit now, it became a necessity. What would they understand? Creatures who live in the dark become accustomed to lies and blood, but Raph and his family? They didn't need anymore hardships. The war was hard enough.

"Keep walking with your eyes shut and you won't get anywhere." A teasing voice interrupted her thoughts.

Rachel hadn't realized it, but her thoughts had lead her right into the heart of Lighting Force's Territory and Alex was standing before her. A toothy grin and a kind wink from him allowed her to know that she was safe. There wasn't anyone that was going to think that she was an intruder now that she shown her face.

"Jason's not back yet?" She asked with a sigh. Surely he didn't decide to go after the group of kids by himself.

"He just returned from your little shop. I guess he went the roundabout way, thought you'd catch on and follow him. Well, what's done is done, I'm sure he wouldn't be angry with ya." Alex said kindly to her. "Now let's get ya inside so you can talk to him about whatever it is that's been around attacking us."

He lead her towards a backdoor of a bar that she once worked at. When he opened up the door, the smell of alcohol and the scent of smoke reminded her harshly of the home and work she had left. There was two stages that were dancers and strippers would strut their stuff. A few feet back diagonally was a bar. A few feet to the back of the stripper's stage were a D.J counter.

The second floor had it's own bar and it's own strippers, mainly for private parties and well-paid strippers. More than likely it was regulars that just managed to wheedle in the top floor. It was that floor that Rae worked her ass off on. Alex lead her to the back stage of the stripper's entrance.

The dressing room wasn't anything special. Make up counters, mirrors, bright lights that decorated the frame, it was all the same. Passed the makeup counters, towards the left was a door that was always left bolted. No, it didn't lead to the outside, it lead to the upstairs third floor…Jason's apartment.

It exhausted Rae for some strange reason just to climb three staircases. She was more than thankful when she reached the top of the third floor. Alex was quick to knock on the door and Jason was equally fast in answering. "Well, get in! If you had came up yourself, Alex, she wouldn't need to climb so much!" Jason lectured.

"I didn't see the problem. What, are you injured, Lynx?" Alex asked slightly concerned.

"Ah, go away you idiot and come back later!" Jason snapped as he grabbed Rae by the upper arm and slammed the door in his face. "That's a pay cut if I ever saw one." He grumbled.

"Hey now," Rachel said weakly. "He didn't know that I was pregnant."

"Didn't know? You're a balloon! One glance tells everything about you woman!" Jason said. "What would your man think if he saw Alex treat his girl badly hmm?"

"Oh Jesus, I don't want to know." Rachel groaned. "He doesn't even know I'm pregnant. Besides, why are you being all fussy now? You weren't like this back at the store!"

"You were at the store, love. Not running around the alleyways and climbing up stairs like a buffoon. Now, tell me why you had to chase me all the way down here when you could have just called me over the phone and got me to come back! You shouldn't be even walking; you're close to your time." Jason told her.

"I'm only 3 months along," Rachel sighed and took one of the chairs that was by the door. Jason pulled one up from the farthest corner of the living room and dragged it towards her. "What did the people that were attacking you look like?"

Jason frowned. "You came all the way here just to ask me that?"

"Screw you and tell me before I take this chair and ram it through your brain and promote Alex to be your successor." Rachel threatened.

"Take it easy!" Jason laughed as he held his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, you're not in the mood. Why Alex? That's a shocker. Anyway, that's not the point is it? What did the Aka Ryuu attackers look like? Three of them had their hair dyed. One neon blue, I'm sure that's a wig. Another one green, I'm pretty sure that was a failed dye job too. The last one was purple, and he did excellent, no doubt he did it himself. The other two both had brown hair, one darker than the other."

"What about build? Height differences? Eye color?" She pressed.

Jason shook his head, "I don't have anything for eye color. Build? Two of them are skinny geeks, the other three probably did some sort of sports. One of them I noticed has pretty strong legs, but weak upper muscle strength."

"Did you catch any names?" Rachel asked, knowing that it was probably feeble. Names with Jason was the wind blowing randomly. He never paid attention and mostly forgot unless he saw them for more than a week.

"Sorry love, none," Jason replied.

"Damn." She grumbled. "Well, I guess you did your best." She sighed as she got up.

"Let me come with you down the stairs. Actually, let me carry you at least until your outside." Jason offered as he stood up.

Rachel paled, "Uh, no thank you. I can manage on my own."

"Nonsense," Jason said with a shake of his head. Without warning, the chair tipped over and Rachel was up high in his arms. She clung on to him, afraid to look. She hated being carried. It always left her at the mercy of someone else, "You gotta trust me one day, love."

"One day." Rachel squeaked in agreement as he carried her down the stairs. It was slightly odd…how alike Jason and Raph smelled besides the smoke from the bombs and the grease from the motorbike.

Brianna wandered through the familiar halls of the hideout and smiled faintly at the dark red carpet on the floor and the concrete walls painted white. The place was purposely made to wind and disorient, twist and turn randomly. It covered around three blocks total, but that was just with the layout. If one were to look at the blueprints or from above they would see that it was shaped specifically like a winding dragon. This was both for fun and for if they were ever attacked. Though, that was just aboveground.

Actually, Tsunaia and Sakura had added more to the underground that wrapped even more through New York that travelled secretly to and around nearly every single gang around. Though, the only ones that knew were the most trusted people in the Aka Ryuu and a few of the gangs themselves.

Bria had entered near the neck, and had just a little ways to go until she got to the office. It was fine, she liked having the exercise, and she also missed wandering the halls just for the hell of it. She came up to the hidden door and moved the long painting of Mt. Shasta and knocked the designated amount of times that was her signature. The door opened and in she went.

The room was covered in books and paintings of dragons and samurai and ninja. It was also decorated in plenty of oriental with fans and Japanese styled furniture and black carpet. The walls were a bright red, and the bookshelves were full of everyone who ever joined but it held their own street names so if they were ever read over by enemies they couldn't track down the exact person.

On a comfy black chair next to the hall monitors sad Tsunaia, a beautiful young woman of only 24 or 25, she forgot when her birthday was. She had her hair dyed aqua blue and it was styled to her shoulders in spiky layers and it framed her heart-shaped face beautifully. Her deep brown eyes were bright with mischief but also kindness.

"Yo," Bria grinned with a waved and plopped down in a chair, "Gaw I missed this place. I'm glad you kept it how it was when I left."

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Naia asked with a smile. "I heard about what's going on from Sakura."

Brianna nodded, "Luckily Jason is a reasonable guy, or this place would have been bombed. I heard around four or five guys came around here looking to join but didn't pass the tests?"

"The tests of truth, yes, they failed those. I think they were just looking for attention and when we turned them away they got huffy," Naia stood up and pulled out a catalog of failures. She nodded, "Five of them; Kale, Yui, Ethan, Trent, and then Lu. Yui had blue hair like mine though it was quite a disgrace, then Lu had disgusting green hair. Those two wore glasses and were geeky-like. Ethan, Kale, and Trent were all athletic looking; Ethan was a big tough guy similar to a bodyguard, and his hair was light brown hair. Kale was slender, more like a runner with strong legs, but he didn't do so well in upper body strength. He had stunning purple hair. Trent…he had dark brown hair and was well rounded it seemed in smarts and athletics."

Bria tapped her chin, "So, Trent is the leader?"

"Seems like it, Kerica," Tsunaia shrugged, "Is that all you needed? Or do you need the strengths, too?"

Alex walked into the room. His hair was slightly messy and his cheek now held a bruise from the casual encounters he had with the other wanderers in the alleyway. "Trent's strength is his mind. He's good at running, but his brain is the biggest thing you should worry about. Any hole he can find, he will use to his advantage. Yui and Lu aren't siblings, but they've been around each other since they were in grade school. They don't have any other siblings so they call themselves brothers. Yui and Lu could be called Hunters, since they are very good at catching people. I also noticed that they knew Tae-kwon-do so you may want to be careful. Ethan does several martial and has black belts and continues to rank in them. At the moment he is training with a small pistol, but has no reason to use it. He wants to perfect the art before trying it out. Kale is a runner, but he's mainly a scout. He tells the others when they are in trouble. A formidable team."

"Oh? Who might you be?" Bria blinked, "Thank you for the information, though."

"Alex!" Naia shook her head and grabbed a kit from the drawer and went over to him, "Why do you always show up with a bruise or a split lip? My goodness," she gently pressed on the wound to see how tender it was and when he flinched she put on a bandage.

"Sorry, Naia." Alex said sheepishly. "Jason got rough with me as well since I pretty much "tortured" in his own words, Rae in climbing up a few flights of stairs." He rolled his eyes. "But some people decided to see if they could take on a full-fledged gangster and not someone mediocre."

"Rae? Jason? You're from the Lightning Force?" Brianna grinned and stood up, "We need more of you guys around here."

"He basically joined because of me. After he was ambushed by those punks he came right here to see what was up," Tsunaia pinched his nose, "Goober, since you don't have any other wounds I guess you won the mini-fight?"

"Yeah, I'd say that." Alex smirked.

Bria noticed the sparkle in their eyes and felt a pang, missing Leonardo. She smiled softly, "I'll tell Rae the information, thank you Alex. I'll leave you two alone now," she bowed and went back to the door, pulling the tab to leave through the trap door. In order to prevent unwanted snoopers watching where she went in and left, she usually liked going through the trap door. She did this _especially_ since she joined forces with Rachel.


	4. Chapter 4

Raphael sat on the fire escape outside Andrew's apartment and tapped his sai against his foot impatiently. Matt sure was taking his time getting through the door. What was he, drunk? He looked closer and raised an eyebrow. It sure looked like it at least, but Matt also had tear streaks. What was WRONG with the guy? Furrowing his brows he listened in to figure out why Matt looked like a wreck.

Andrew was watching his friend sadly as he held a glass precariously in his hand. His eyes were red, his cheeks were swollen. It had been the toughest hit Matt had to take. He watched solemnly as Matt took a swig, emptying out the contents of the glass.

Matt slammed it down on the table with a hiccup and another choked sob. He was about to grab the wine glass, but Andy already snatched it away from him. "Give that back to me you freak."

"If anyone is the freak, it is you." Andrew replied as he set it on the farthest part of the table, knowing Matt was seeing double by now and most likely wouldn't be able to figure out where it was. "Matt..." He paused, trying to figure out what to say. "You broke up with her." He decided to say.

"I already know that you dumb-fuck." Matt snapped harshly. "She's still carrying another guy's babe. Who wouldn't be hurt over that huh? I tell ya, if I find out who knocked her up, he's dead for sure."

"She's pregnant and you let her go. Don't you think that this is your fault to blame?" Andrew asked. "He loves her...just as much as you did. But you changed your mind, remember?"

"If I had just stayed with her...she's carrying a turtle's baby I know that for a fact." Matt said sharply. "No one's gotta go through that pain." He paused and then bowed his head. "She woulda had my child if I just held on to her."

"But would you have been happy Matt? Denying what you know about yourself now?" Andrew pressed. "Rae's going down the darkest road anyone knows. Her Seeing can kill one of us someday and she knows that. Why do you think she assassinates people for a living? She obeys his command and will do anything he asks her to do because they traded blood. She's bound to him and always."

"We assassinate people for a living. You a doctor do it every day." Matt chided and began laughing hysterically. "A doctor killer you are!" He chanted this a few times before turning sober in the quickest second. "He won't stay with her if he finds out."

Raphael rolled his eyes. 'What else has she hidden from me?' He sighed and jumped off the railing, signaling to his elder brother Andrew and Matthew were finally in the apartment. He wasn't upset, why did everyone think he was going to blow up at every little thing? So, Rachel killed before he met her, there really wasn't much he could do about that. The only thing that ticked him off was it was just another thing to add to the list of things she hadn't told him herself yet. Would she ever? Meh, he doubted it, but hell, at least he knew now. He waited to see if the two would exchange anything more.

"And then what?" Andrew asked with disapproval evident on his face. "You swoop in for the kill? Loving her and the bastard child she created?" Matt's face turned beat red. "You wouldn't." He answered. "You're too honorable for it, Matt. It's your weakness and your strength. You're a loyal dog and you're always going to be."

"Meh. You're no fun Andy." Matt pouted. "Never are." He looked at the window and grinned wildly. "There's two people waiting for us outside. We should invite them in, yes we should. Curious they are, wanting to know what we're going to exchange. Raphie's out there, with someone else. Hehehe, their inner voices sound like chipmunks. I can hear them...whooooo."

Andrew groaned. "Just how far drunk are you?" He muttered to himself as he stood up. Matt was very well known for not being able to hold his liquor and Rae was always quick to remind him to order him anything but alcohol when they were partying, but Jesus. Matt was acting like a moody /child/. It was ridiculous. He opened the window. "Raph?"

"I was just about to knock," Raph tapped his sai on his shoulder, "Came by to find out what general area Rae and Bria are. Ya know, for safety. My bro and I just want them to be safe," he shrugged tasting the metalic tang on his tongue. He had to bite his tongue when Andy said what he did about his kid, though he probably didn't really mean it in a wrong way, just to get his point across.

"Hehehe," Matt giggled hysterically. "What? You guys didn't look for her at the store? That's usually where she'd be."

Raphael frowned, "What store?"

Matt giggled loudly. "What store? What store could there be?" He giggled again and then suddenly turned serious. "I wonder if any of the gangs knows that she's back. Her being pregnant and all might endanger her to some really bad things. But that's why she set up that store of hers down by where the Lighting Force usually hang."

"The Lighting Force is a gang that involves bombs and flares and anything of the like." Andrew decided to explain. "Rae's more than safe in Jason's hands than anyone's. As for the store...didn't Rae tell you that she's a Seer? It's passed down from her mother and from her mother's mother and her mother's mother's father."

"I know she's a Seer, I just didn't know about the store. Where's Lighning Force and who's Jason?" Raph slipped his sai back in his belt, he only really had it out because he was bored waiting. Now he didn't have to wait anymore.

"Let me put it this way. Compared to Ian and his relationship with Rae, they might as well be boss and employee. Jason and Rae? He sheds skin for that girl because she's gotten him out of some tight spots that most would think impossible. Anyway, you might wanna check him out."

"Go to Dragon's Breath." Matt said with a giggle. "That's Jason's bar."

Raph snorted, "Yeah, I know Dragon's Breath, my bud Casey used to drag me there. Thanks, Andy," he glanced at Matt and frowned, but decided not to say anything else and jumped off to join his elder brother. "I know where to go. Follow me."

Raphael grumbled as he walked around looking for the least crowded place to go in. He really didn't want to deal with a whole bunch of losers and loser questions and loser looks tonight. Then he spotted a guy heading their way from the alleyway shadows and brightened when he spotted a red dragon tattoo on the guy's wrist. "Leo! Check it out, I think that's one of Bria's Aka Ryuu. You might be able to talk to him."

Leo glanced over to see who he was talking about and nodded. "I'll go do that." He said as he looked at Raph. "Will you be able to get inside and talk to Jason okay? I don't know what kind of person he is, but he might be someone that can turn against us."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll just buck up and head in. I think I found a less crowded area that's around the stairs," Raph nodded, "Off with ya, get info on your woman, I'll get info on mine." He waved his brother off and stepped inside, using the shadows as his guide and listened for anyone speaking about the guy they were looking for.

Alex noticed the strange creatures that were walking towards him and rolled his eyes. Now he was going to have to tell Jason to call Rae so she could round these things up and take them to Fireside where they'd be safer and a lot happier. Still...maybe if they were still and not a fighting kind of monster, or anything that was scared, he might be able to talk to it fluently. He hoped.

"You're apart of Bria's Aka Ryuu...aren't you?" Leo asked, looking at the red tattoo that was on the guy's wrist. "Do you know anything about Bria?"

Alex was taken aback. "You know Kerica. Does that mean that you need her something because Fireside got stuck not being able to find Rae, or is there another reason?" He paused. "Has to be another reason, you're looking confused. Why do you want to know?"

"I promised I'd call her, but...I just wanted to know that she was somewhere safe." Leo admitted. "She's pregnant and I'm worried about her and the child she's carrying."

"That explains a lot." Alex said with a sigh. "You can be assured she's safe. She's in our territory and if anything happens here, she always has the Aka Ryuu. You can't get in unless you're a member, so good luck trying." He paused again and rubbed the back of his neck. "What's your name?"

"Leonardo Hamato. Leo for short." Leo answered.

"Alexander Wright. Alex for short. Most people in the Aka Ryuu go by nicknames so their hard to find, but I'd rather not. There's lots of Alex's in the world." Alex grinned slightly. "So you're the father of Bria's babe. You seem good enough. I guess you don't come out often."

"Daylight isn't something we runabout in and usually we run rooftops to stay hidden." Leo replied.

Alex frowned. But, if that was the case then surely Fireside would have found them already. Were they that well hidden or didn't Fireside bother them because they weren't raging around and causing problems? Ah, well, whatever worked. "I suppose that's one effective way to stay hidden." He managed to say.

The door swung open and Raph came out flying. Jason stood at the doorway breathing heavily and looking like a bull that was seeing red. Alex blinked a few times, "I wonder what Raph said to make Jay angry."

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR? ALL I DID WAS ASK A FUCKING QUESTION!" Raphael howled and wiped his lip with his thumb, "God damn it!"

"Ohh, he asked for Rae." Alex noted. "That explains the punch."

"No one asks for her unless they know exactly what their up against turtle-man." Jason snapped. "And I am not about to hand her over to ya. You think that you can just waltz right in and ask for her like she's a piece of property? Eh! Well you guessed wrong!"

Alex bit his lip and Leo ran over to his brother to make sure that he was alright. Oh boy, how was he going to calm the boss-man down and get him to see that Raph had a right to know where Rae was? He rubbed the back of his neck. Talk about troubling.

"Jackass!" Raph bounced up ignoring Leo's protests and he slammed a kick into Jason's stomach, "She's not property, not saying she was!" He growled deeply and slapped Leo's hand away, "That's why I was looking for her, I was told you were taking care of her! What the hell is your problem? Jesus!"

Jason coughed and staggered upwards, holding his stomach as he felt it rumble from that hit. Alex immediately got to his side. "Jay, don't keep arguing. You're making a mistake."

"What mistake am I possibly making? He wants Rae, he ain't getting her." Jason snapped.

"You don't have a choice since he already had her! You're looking at the guy who got her pregnant." Alex hissed.

"Damn straight," Raphael put his hands on his hips, sucking at his split lip and spitting the blood off in the dirt, "Hell, man, she's my mate. If you had let me explain instead of nearly taking my head off you would've known that!"

"If she's your mate then why is she...ohhhh...she thinks you don't know." Jason said, catching on quickly. "That explains why she's returned back to Heavenly Scent." He paused. "Let's go back inside, shall we? We'll talk upstairs. That way we won't be overheard by rivals."

"Sure," Raph looked back at Leo who was hesitant, "If anything goes wrong yu can say 'told ya so' or whatever, come on."

They went inside and went through the back so that no one would really catch them. He lead them up the stairs and opened up the door. He let them go in through first and then walked through. He sighed. "Rae's like a little sis to me, you dig?" Jason said the minute they got settled. "She's done a lot for me and she's saved my skin. Say what you want about her, but if she holds a secret, she normally holds it in for a good reason."

He folded his arms. "So...maybe you should tell me why you're looking for her and what I can do to help."

"Yeah, good enough reason to nearly get me killed a few times here and there," Raph shrugged. He rubbed his head and sighed, "My bro Leo and I were just being protective, we wanted to know where Rae and Bria were and what the area was like. Also, I myself wanted to know what YOU were like. Well, now I know," he touched his lip gingerly, "Wicked punch, man, and I heard you and your gang deal with explosives, too."

Jason smiled and puffed himself up excitedly. "Yes we do." He answered. "In anything from small bombs, fireworks, and to big booms as well. Of course, we do sell when we can. We mainly use them. We don't want anyone grabbing anything that can reveal what we do to make them."

Raph looked at Leo and nudged him, "Bria's here, too, I'm not doing all the talking."

Alex shook his head. "She's most likely with Rae. Back when Lynx became a new member of the Aka Ryuu, she'd follow Bria everywhere because she thought it may redeem herself...a bit."

Raph nodded, "Thanks. That's really all we needed to know, sorry to bother you," he bowed, "We might drop by as time goes on, just to get updates. That okay?" Glancing at Leo he added carefully, "If you ever need us or need to tell us something, you can find us in Central Park. I can't give you much more than that."

"No, you don't have to apologize. I didn't mean to hit you." He paused. "I think you and I will get along someday. Maybe soon." Alex smirked slightly and nodded his head. There was no doubt that all of them would get along.

"See ya later then," Raph bowed again and patted Leo's shoulder, "Let's go find Bria and Rae then." He lead his brother out and once out in the fresh air he smiled sadly, "You and Bria have a strong connection. You've looked like shit since she left."

"I know." Leo said sheepishly. "It's hard when she's away and get's harder now that I know she's carrying my child." He shook his head sadly. "It's tough."


	5. Chapter 5

Brianna hummed along as she straightened up her side of the shop with her gemstones and herbs and other stuff for Chakra healing. She'd re-read books on chakra she'd gotten from the storage Tsunaia gave her so long ago to put all her belongings from the past until she was ready to face them again. It'd been hard, walking in that large room where tons of family heirlooms and other things her grandparents had left behind for her in their wills. Thinking about it made her heart hurt, and she shook her head to rid herself of the tears.

Suddenly there was one knock and nothing else. Bria raised an eyebrow and stood up; checking for a bad aura, but there was no aura of any kind. Sighing she went to the door and opening it, "Thought so…Rae, our Night Visitor dropped something else off!" she picked up the bag and didn't even look out, knowing it was useless. She'd tried and tried to spot the person over the last two weeks, but it never worked. She went to her sister in the makeshift kitchen, "Maybe you can spot him," she whispered.

"I can try." Rachel said doubtfully. If her sister couldn't catch him, then what chance did she have? She rubbed her hands on her apron since it was her turn to cook. "Don't let the meat burn." She said gently. "Flip them over when their down cooking on one side." She walked away from the stove, certain that her sister would handle the cooking while she looked and see if she could catch whoever it was that was leaving the gifts. She walked over to the door and opened it. All she caught was a flash of blond hair multicolored shoe before he left the alleyway. She knew that the body was going to be wearing all black and she only knew one gang that wore all black. "Hmm..." She pursed her lips.

Bria kept checking over the meet extra cautious it didn't burn, she hated charcoal on her food. Glancing over she saw Rae with an amused expression but also confused and wondering, "What's up?"

"I think I know where the guy is from...I don't know much more than that." Rachel answered as she shut the door.

"Well that's good," Bria smiled, "He a vampire?" she saw Rae tense and waved her hand, "I've met vampires before, though never really interacted with them. I know what they are, though, because I always taste the blood on my tongue. Their aura's are basically hidden but their "radar" to draw in food is huge. I just wanted to know your thoughts, because I've suspected but don't know."

"Well, then, since the sun went down about an hour ago, you have time to go check out your hunch after we eat! You know I work best at night anyway, so I'll run the shop while you're out. I'm sure you're sick of lazing about anyway," Bria giggled and poked Rachel's belly playfully and finished with the meat, getting it off the stove, "You know, we should really eat more fruits and veggies, eating a lot of meat could be bad." Though not many knew or even cared, she was a firm believer that what you ate effected a child's personality in the womb. She rummaged through the new bag and out appeared a bundle of apples and some cucumbers, "I love that guy more and more!"

"Ohh, he put asparagus in there." Rachel gushed. "Hmmm...I wonder how he knew about it..." She placed her finger against her mouth. "What do you think I should cook with the chicken? It's not going to take long."

Brianna tapped her chin, "How about cream of asparagus soup? We got all the ingredients," she patted her own pouch lovingly, "I'm definitely hungry enough for both, and what we don't eat can go into the fridge."

"Okay." Rachel said with a grin. "After the chicken, we'll make it, then I'll chase the guy down."

Rachel got to Fireside and ran her fingers through her hair. There was no denying it, she knew that this was going to be one of the worst missions she would have to take on. For one thing, Vampires were skilled liars and two, she wasn't even sure if there was a Vampire on the loose. There were seven clans after all, and Fireside housed all Seven since the Kellys' were in rule at the moment and would continue to be in rule until Ian stepped down or died and same thing with Nicky.

She entered the household and smiled slightly. Sam and Electric were playing a video game, Ellie and Jacob were no where to be found. Gabriella was watching the two play. "Hey Gabe." She called with a slight wave. "Where's Ian? Is he around?"

Gabriella moved her caramel bangs out of her way and smiled brightly, "Hello Rachel! Ian's upstairs lecturing Nicky. Apparently he's been going out a lot even during the day, and this time was caught. Don't know what's going on, though."

"Huh..." Rachel said with a frown. Nicky had always been adventurous even when she was a rookie in the family. But even Ian had a right to be a bit suspicious. What could Nicky be wandering around for? She bit her lip and walked up the stairs. She knew it might be rude, but hell. Ian knew all to well that Nicky may talk to her than talk to him...especially if it's something incriminating.

The minute she reached the third floor, Nicky was already sent away from the room. He glanced up and sheepishly smiled. He was wearing his father's cloak and wearing striped socks. His hair was spiked up high. "Oh...hi Aunt Rae."

"You never call me that." Rachel said, folding her arms and giving him a sight tilt of the head. She noticed that Nicky glanced quickly at the door beside him and she took the message. "Let's talk somewhere else." She agreed. "Your room?"

"Might as well." Nicky answered with a shrug. He trudged down the hallway and lead her to his room. His head was hung and his shoulders were slumped. It wrenched at her that Nicky might have saw something happen and was trying to do his own investigation. The minute the door closed however, the conversation changed. "Aunt Rae have you ever been in love?"

Surprise took over her features quickly. "Why do you ask?" She questioned, buying herself time to answer. "What was that whole lecture about? Combining one of the Seven to a family might have been one of Ian's biggest dreams!"

"No...I'm not in love with any of them." Nicky said quickly.

"So...a different vampire? One that isn't of royal blood?" Rae pressed.

"A human actually." Nicky answered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "She's really nice Aunt Rae. She's beautiful in my eyes and did you know she's an artiest? She also plays the flute in a band." He paused. "She's wonderful...but she gets picked on a lot."

"Did your dad find out and lectured you about it?" Rachel asked seriously. When vampires fell in love, they suffered if they couldn't be with the person forever. No matter what. Even if they stayed with the human they fell for, they would have to..sooner or later...turn them into a vampire so they...themselves...wouldn't die. Which was why a vampire in love with another vampire didn't cause so much trouble.

"No, thank god. Just demanding to know where I'm roaming around, telling me how dangerous the sun is since I can die. Telling me that I'm valuable and that I shouldn't be lured into a trick. But I know Allison wouldn't do that to me!" Nicky pleaded his case. "Besides..." He paused. "It gives me reason to check up on Matt and Andy once in a while."

Rachel smiled slightly. Nicky and Matt were best of friends. They were close to brothers. It hurt that Matt wasn't coming down here to visit, but what did she know? They might be visiting each other more often than not. "Well, I promise you that your father won't know about Allison. At least not from me. Okay?"

"Okay. So...why are you visiting?" Nicky asked curiously. "Dad didn't call you."

"Somebody's been leaving gifts outside my store and it's normally what we're craving or need." Rachel said as she folded her arms. "I narrowed it down that it was a vampire and I'm thinking that it has to be you because...well...let's face it Nicky...you love color."

"Damn." Nicky hissed as he looked away. "I was hoping you wouldn't figure it out."

"Tell you what, I'll just pretend I don't know anything about it." She promised. "And if my sister asks me if I found anything out...well...I didn't and you can keep doing what you want to do. But I do have to ask...why are you doing it?"

Nicky merely smiled. "I'll keep that a secret."

Rachel sighed, "Alright, that's fair. Well, now that I confirmed my suspicions, I'm going to go ahead and take my leave after I hug Ian good bye and let Lese check me over and make sure that I can give an easy birth."

"Nothing's going to be easy when it comes down to you." Nicky said solemnly. "Are you and Bria really going to give up your children?"

"Bria's merely going to put them in a protective house. A place where she can get them when she thinks we're safe enough." Rachel answered. "As for me...I don't want to see my child. I want her to be far away from me."

1:34 PM "Raph wouldn't like that. He'll get your child and keep her when he finds out where the child's living. You know that...it's futile." Nicky answered softly.

"Not unless I keep my promise." Rachel said firmly. "And make sure Raph never knows about it."

"He'll know." Nicky said with a shake of his head. "Father's always know. Anyway, my dad's probably anxious to know what you managed to get out of me, so I guess..."

"You'll see me later." Rachel smiled lightly. "Yes. You will."

Brianna bounced up after her customer left and Rachel came in, "Rae! Did you find anything?" she ran over and supported Rae who looked about ready to fall over, "Wherever you did go, it was probably a bit far for you."

"I think I overdid it myself." Rachel nodded as Bria helped her to the nearest chair. "Man I can't wait till I'm done with this. I can finally sleep when I want, run where I want to go and not get tired."

Bria giggled and poured some chamomile tea that she had made for the few customers that had popped on by hearing from friends what she could do. Handing it to Rae she wiped away some of the sweat, "Speaking of sleeping, you need some rest after doing all of that. I'm still developing but you look about to burst, and we're only 3 almost 4 months along, my goodness!" she patted Rae's shoulder, "And since you didn't answer me I guess you don't want to talk about it. You know you can be straight up and tell me so," she grinned.

"Watch, because you said that I'm probably going to give birth first and you get to go the full 9 months and never look like this." Rachel pouted teasingly. "And okay, okay, I'll take you advice. I'll climb the stairs and sleep. Goodnight Bria."

"Night, Rae. I'll clean up shop, don't worry," Bria helped Rachel to her room and got her tucked in, "Call if you need anything, okay?" with that she turned off Rachel's light and went back into the store. After a while she tasted blood on her tongue and grinned before she got out one of her books out and set it on the table, "It's safe, Ally, come on in." No, Ally wasn't a vampire, but the one who escorted her was.


	6. Chapter 6

"Night, Rae. I'll clean up shop, don't worry," Bria helped Rachel to her room and got her tucked in, "Call if you need anything, okay?" with that she turned off Rachel's light and went back into the store. After a while she tasted blood on her tongue and grinned before she got out one of her books out and set it on the table, "It's safe, Ally, come on in." No, Ally wasn't a vampire, but the one who escorted her was.

Ally quietly opened the door. Her hair was in a long braid and her cheeks were pale. She wore a red, red shirt and she wore sweatpants since she didn't do laundry and she wanted to be comfortable while meditating.

Bria grinned, "You've been practicing your aura reading?" She opened the book to the right pages, knowing where to open by heart, "You're a bit paler than usual, I suppose you've already established that connection with your friend while practicing with him?"

"Ah, yes." Ally nodded eagerly. "I've done as much as I can...but it was really difficult to read his aura. I got it down. I've also tried it on my friends...of course they just think I'm making things up." Her cheeks turned fairly red. "I no longer hang with them. Although I tried."

"I'm sorry…but I did tell you it would be difficult in more than one way. Friends I had back where I used to live also thought I was…weird," Bria sighed, "I understand more than anyone. I've come to accept, though, that if they're not willing to open their minds and accept what you do, then they don't deserve to be called friends anyway."

Ally smiled as she bowed her head, "Right." She took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

While Ally walked forward and began her lesson, Nicky stood back and watched. Bria was at home here. He closed his eyes. He could see this store flourishing. He could see the sisters working together. New York really made them.

He was really, really glad that he intervened when he saw Bria heading towards the terminal that was to lead her down the path of misery and shame in California. He shook his head. He was just so glad that he knew that much. Also, just to butter her up. He followed her into the plane, changed clothes, and pretended to be a stranger and told her everything about New York.

He was really glad that he had investigated the family, saw pictures of Bria, and heard what the family was like. He knew that Bria wouldn't be happy, wouldn't be at all pleased with the arrangement. He managed to catch her just in time and he was thankful for it.

**-Flashback-**

Rachel had barely begun her training in the Fireside's territory. Her hair was dyed purple, her eyeshadow changed color every single day. Her clothes were the darkest black, but she wore the happiest smile. She followed Ian around and sat with Lese. She hung around Nicky and cuddled with Matt. It was her life. It was something that she had nothing to worry about.

Nicky could remember only twice he seen Rachel faint from a premonition. The day he left, and the day she realized what it meant to become a Fireside member. Sadly, her nightmares were countless. Her terrors made anyone wake her up and sometimes they were thanked by a punch, or a kick. Then they'd find her cuddled in a tight place, hands over ears, and tears streaming down her face while she looked guilty.

What had surprised him, was when she had her first faint in Fireside. She was training with him, keeping up with different forms of fighting and different ways she could fight. He trained her to unlock her powers, even though Ian did it much better. She stopped, mid hit and he had just about to punch her, when she fell to her knees and then her back. Her eyes stared lifelessly up the sky. It freaked him out.

He grabbed her, shaking her, trying to call her name when she suddenly grabbed on to him, looking fearful. "Don't go!" She pleaded. "Please Nicky, don't go."

"Don't go?" He asked confused. "Don't go where?"

"Don't go." She merely repeated. "Whose going to help me with my nightmares if you go?"

He hugged her tightly, confused as hell and decided to send her off so that she would get some sleep. While she rested, he went up to his mother's room and found his father there as well. He explained to them both about what had just occurred...but both of them looked just as blank and were unsure of what she might have seen or thought of when she came too.

However, another premonition took over, one he didn't know about, but Lese did. It had come to Rae in a form of a dream. It was the very same premonition that happened when he was on the train. His mother had called him on his cell phone. "Go to California and find out what you can about Chris's second daughter." His mother had told him. He had been confused about why his mom would want to know something like this, but what could he do? Off to Cali he went.

Nicky hid in the shadows as much as possible. Hell at least in New York the tall buldings would block the dunlight, but it was open terrain where he was in Sacramento. No tall buildings, least not tall enough to hide him from the deathly orb. That plus the heat and he nearly /wanted/ to die. How did anyone suvive out here? Well, at least he had to give one point to this side of the country, the air was certainly much clearer and the first few days while he searched for Chris he was coughing out the toxins from NYC air. Sometimes being half human wasn't so fun.

Though, when Nicky found Chris he had been complaining about "stupid bitch" and he was saying something about "making me pay child support" and a whole bunch of other profanities. Apparently the jackass had quit his job yet again so he wouldn't have to pay. "I'll be so glad when that girl is fucking 18," Chris said as well. Nicky waltzed right in and after a bit of...persuading which included exchanging of fists after talking shit about certain things, the young vampire found out the "girl" was someone named Brianna Davon Church. He walked happily out of the house to find out more with his mad informer skills, talking with a gang here and a gang there, and even some surprise covens who knew Ian. He was certainly going to get some adventure stories out of his dad one of these days.

Nicky got plenty of information about the girl who liked to be called Bria, and found out she had an Aunt named Diane who she would be staying with. After more searching he found plenty of things that disturbed him. One of the cousins, the eldest named Nickolas as well, had skitsophrenia and was a very dangerous person. The 2nd youngest, Kevin, had kidney problems and was slowly dying, but he loved to pick on Nick and purposely get him pissed off. Kevin also talked bad about everyone, including the 2nd oldest, Alex, who was in the Army.

Sneaking into the home they lived in, Nicky found a lot about Alex. He actually was kind of fond of the man. Blonde hair, blue eyes, attitude, hell if they ever met he suspected they could be great friends, but being the middle child - before Adam, the baby of the family, was born - he was always shoved into the background because Kevin and Nick were always acting up. So, he went out to South Dakota where other family lived quite often. How he knew was he found a picture of Mt. Rushmore and on the back was written in childish 12-year-old handwriting was "Dead President Heads" and below were the names of the two kids in the picture, Alex - 12 and Bria - 7. It sort of made the vampire sad when he found nothing more passed when Alex was 12 and his adventures across the country, including the Grand Canon.

Moving along in the house, he spotted pictures of when Alex joined the Army at 20, which meant now Bria was only 15. Alex married some woman named Amy not too long after. He winced away from the picture, getting a bad feeling from it, especially the very unattractive Amy. There was very little about Bria besides what he found in the Aunt's Room, but they were all when Bria was young. Leaving the house to look around the property, he reflected on everything, and came to one conclusion. The family only thought of her as their "little" Bria, and if his suspicions were correct Bria wasn't "little" anymore, she was a teenager, and no matter what teenagers had attitude.

Bria would despise the place, especially if Alex was married and with Adam being so young, he would irritate her more times than not. Remembering her from the pictures, even at 7 or younger she had the smile and bright eyes of someone who was a dare devil and independent. Surely, the Aunt and the available cousin, Kevin, who had a bad reputation of bossing people and making them miserable, would only hold her back and everyone would hold her down. The only way she would be able to retaliate would be to run away, or to...

Nicky paled, if that was possible. He swore and flipped open his phone, getting tickets to South Dakota, thankful he had gone through the phonebook and found out just WHERE Brianna lived. He would do everything in his power to keep the girl out of harms way, including Evil's clutches. If he had his way, she would enter the shadows of gangs under her own will, not because she was forced. Hell, she would join Fireside or one of their trusted contacts if he got the go-ahead from his parents!

Nicky was at the airport, staring at the night in California as he waited for the plane to land, board, and take off. As he did, his mind he went over the conversation. Rae had told him that she missed him...even though something was wrong in her voice. How was he supposed to know that the night he stood in the airport, would be the night Ian would do the cruelest thing? Anyway, his mom told him that as long as Bria was safe and had an opened mind, anything was possible.

The plane called South Dakota and he smirked as he pushed away. Once he was there, it was just the matter of finding a disguise, grabbing Bria, and taking her away from New York. He boarded the plane with an air of happiness.


	7. Chapter 7

Brianna watched Ally get settled for that night's session. Smiling gently she ran her hand through her hair, "Ally, you do remember that I made the deal that for me to teach you I would have you do something for me in return?"

Ally frowned, "Yes, I do remember. You didn't know what you wanted me to do, though, so let me go and went on with your teachings."

"True, true, but now I do know what do you," Bria smiled.

Nicky jumped at the mention. She might as well have dropped a bomb in the room. What was she thinking?

"It's not anything too drastic, is it?" Ally watched Bria carefully.

Bria laughed softly, mindful of Rae in the other room, "No, no, not at all. You see, I'm just worried for you, Ally. You have great potential and I want you to have a place to turn to when no one else is around," she glanced at the one close to the doorway when she said this, "As a precaution, so you're safe no matter what, I would like you to join my group, the Aka Ryuu."

Ally bit her lip. To join a gang of any kind was against her code. Nicky didn't want to put her in any danger, she knew that. She also knew that she couldn't become a member. A place to run to? "Forgive me, Bria. I cannot be a member. I made a promise to myself and to my lover that no gang should have me. Besides...as long as he's here with me, I stay in his gang. Fireside. I'm sorry…"

Bria giggled, "Oh Ally, you make the same mistake many others do." She shook her head, "Perhaps...if I tell you a little story behind the Aka Ryuu you might reconsider. It's not a "gang" for I myself am against gangs," she grinned and put her elbow on the table and placed her chin in her hand.

Ally bit her lip. "I'll listen to your story, but I doubt I'll be joining." She warned. "I'll at least want time to consider it."

"I will give you time to do so," Brianna sighed softly and watched the candle burning in the middle of the table, running her other hand over it, playing with the white whips. After a moment she showed Ally her left hand, "You see this line that goes up and the splits off, Ally? It's right next to my life line…" she showed her the life line, then the line next to it, "That's my destiny or fate line, Ally. See how one line of the split is stronger than the other? That's because before I was 15 that was the path I would choose, and now it's the path I did choose, for the other line is fading more and more."

Bria smiled at Ally's wonder, "I'll teach you a bit of palmistry next week, but for now…" She leaned back and once again and closed her eyes, "When I was fifteen I was nearly sent to California. I had packed everything and it was all put into my empty room, then from my home I was driven three hours to Omaha where I was to board the plane to Cali to be with family."

She waved a hand to dismiss the reasons for such a thing. They honestly were no longer important, "Anyway, I was standing in front of the gate to go to California, when a young man with emo-cut brown hair with neon stripes and mischievous blue eyes. It wasn't attraction I felt, though he was striking. No…it was the feeling of being safe, like this person wasn't going to let anything bad happen to me no matter what."

Bria grinned and poured the tea that had been heating on the portable burner next to her, and also poured Ally a glass since it was her favorite. After a sip she reminisced a bit about that amazing turn of events, "I'll let you think over what I've said so far before I continue."

Ally paused as she thought it over. California? Nicky did tell her that he had to leave west for some strange reason. Emo cut hair and blue eyes? The feeling of safety? Ally knew this. However, it couldn't be Nicky...could it? It had to be. She looked at Bria. "Please keep going."

Nicky smiled thoughtfully as he remembered the events. He shook his head. It hadn't taken a whole lot of convincing to keep her away from Cali to New York.

Brianna smiled and sighed contently, "He gave me a ticket for first class on the plane about to take off for New York. He also took my bag, but I was happy he did. It just gave me more reason to bolt to the New York City gate. Quite the run, I tell ya." She laughed softly and sipped her tea again, "Once inside the plane I saw all my bags there waiting for me, and soon after was the same guy that gave me the ticket. After sitting down and sharing a bit of humor, 'It's not kidnapping if the person is willing' he told me, we started talking about the pros and cons of New York. No matter what he told me, though, I felt happier and happier to be coming here. I felt...like I was coming home."

"I hadn't been able to get his actual name out of him, the twerp, but I gave him a name that I thought fit him. That was Ryuu," Bria grinned hugely now, "He made sure I was with trusted allies, Tsunaia and Sakura, and for a time I lived with them. We got to talking, though, after the Purple Dragons struck one night. They agreed to let me join since I had quite the plan under my sleeve. They know what it was now, but since I got their mark and I'm valuable to them, they can't boot me out unless they kill me. That would piss a whole lot of people off and they'd be wiped out quickly."

She snickered, but continued, "After about a month with them and sabotaging their work and crud, I talked to Naia and Sakura about helping me create an...anti-gang, so to speak. It never has been a gang, but that's what we had to call it back then. I was 16 when it finished and I'd met Rachel not too long before, but it was way before we were deciding on disappearing. Our base needed a name..."

"Looking upon it I knew exactly what to cal it, and knew how to change it from being an anti-gang to what it really is. Aka...it means both red and bloody in Japanese, so I knew that would be the member colors. Then there was Ryuu, and how he protected me when i needed it most, for I saw him often while starting my life and reputation in New York." Bria took another sip, "So, my dear, I named it Aka Ryuu, for the red for the passion I had for this project and the fire I held for my life in New York, as well as the blood I shed to achieve my status and even the blood Ryuu shed for me."

Bria looked at Ally hopefully, "Do you understand? Aka Ryuu is not a gang...that's the last thing it is. It is more like a protection center, a place for those in need so they can be helped like Ryuu helped and protected me."

Her suspicions were confirmed. Only Nicky would be able to do that with a snap of a finger. Feeling at home though? She glanced behind her shoulder and looked back at Bria. Only Nicky would know the answer to that. "I see." She said, feeling a little bit at ease. The story made so much sense. Now she knew what she was going to be. She could tell that Nicky wanted her in this. Why else did he agree to let her be in this room, learning all she could about it? "I agree now. I'll join the Aka Ryuu."

Bria pulled out a black bandana with a red dragon printed on it, "You may wear this until you deside what you really want to do with the symbol. Many don't tattoo like others do, they mearly have it on their person at all times like on the inside of a glove or printed on a jacket, hat, or belt. It's up to you what you want to do, but I am proud to call you one of my Red Dragon Sisters."

"Thank you." Ally said as she took the bandanna. It was silky and smooth. She felt the responsibility weight the cloth down, but she knew that she was going to take it and smile about it. This was something that she could handle. "I'll take care of it and find a way to wear it."

Bria knew the person in the corner was Ryuu, but said nothing. Instead she wrote on a piece of paper and set it off to the side. They went on with their lesson for the night and Ally did quite learning about the seven chakras. For the last part of the lesson was reading what happened with each was clogged and how to make each flow or flow better. Once that was done and time was up, Bria handed Ally a pouch with seven gems - Garnet, citrine, yellow topaz, emerald, turquoise, amethyst, and quartz. "Care for these, they will be yours forever, and they will call to you and you can call to them in times of need. The string is long enough to tie on a belt, around your neck, or put it in a pocket, but never lose this pouch."

"I won't. Thank you once again." Ally said as she stood up and smiled at her.

Brianna stood and blew out the candle, "No, thank you for being my student. I feel so honored to be able to help you, Ally. Enjoy your weekend, practice releasing your chakras, and I'll teach you palmistry next week as promised." She slid the piece of paper in Ally's pocket as she gave her a hug, "Give that to him," she murmured in Ally's ear then pulled away, "Be safe, and don't be surprised if a pink or blue haired woman pop by wherever you live."

"Okay." Ally agreed as she walked out with Nicky with a soft smile on her lips. When they left, she handed him a note. "Here…" She said with a soft smile.

_"Thank you for everything, Ryuu – Bria"_ Such a simple note, but it held so much caring and emotion behind it.

Nicky smiled lightly as he looked at the note. He stuffed it into his pocket and wrapped an arm around Ally. 'You're welcome.' He whispered on the wind, knowing that Bria would know.


End file.
